Spelling Bee

Each spring, the WITF Central PA Spelling Bee invites 4th to 8th grade students from 10 surrounding counties to demonstrate their spelling knowledge as they attempt to make their way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Interested schools register with Scripps in the fall and then conduct their own qualifying Spelling Bee at their school. Winners from each of the participating schools compete in a 50 word written test and 50 word vocabulary test held at the WITF Public Media Center. No more than the top 35 spellers participate in the WITF Grand Championship Spelling Bee, an oral spell down which is then broadcast on WITF TV. The winner from that bee qualifies to compete nationally in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Finalists for 2013 Spelling Bee Announced

About 150 spellers qualified, representing 66 schools from 10 counties in central Pennsylvania. They all gathered on January 27 and took a 100-word written test at the witf Public Media Center in Harrisburg..

Thirty-six of the top spellers are now advancing to the Grand Championship Spelling Bee on February 23. While competing onstage at the witf Public Media Center, these spellers will rely on their hours of studying and understanding of a word’s origins to avoid the dreaded bell signaling they are wrong and out. The finalists for 2013 witf’s Grand Championship Spelling Bee are:

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